In public affairs, it is easy to overestimate the power of precision and underestimate the power of storytelling. As someone who has worked across politics, advocacy, nonprofits, and agency environments for over 11 years, I have learned that successful advocacy often hinges less on the sophistication of the strategy and more on the clarity of the narrative. Influence does not begin with a policy brief but with a high-impact story.
When you humanize a policy issue, you do more than inform decision makers; you foster the emotional conditions for change. The real work lies in broadening the conversation, fostering empathy, building a consensus of support, and laying the groundwork for future reform. It is about creating a connection that resonates and engages.
The strategic power of digital advocacy
This is why Pierre Poilievre's digital presence is not just a triumph in political communications—it is a testament to modern advocacy. It is about leveraging the power of disciplined message narrative and digital media to inform and empower, not just to communicate.
Rather than talking about inflation in abstract economic terms, he focuses on the single mom struggling with grocery bills. Instead of railing against specific housing regulations, he highlights young Canadians struggling to break into homeownership to show voters what is truly broken. These are not just rhetorical devices; they are disciplined narrative tactics. By humanizing systemic issues, Poilievre does not just inform; he recruits emotional investment, and that is where advocacy begins to transform awareness into actionable public pressure.
Whether you support his politics or not, it is hard to deny the effectiveness of Poilievre's "people first" message discipline. What has made his approach resonate is not just the tactical and technical execution of his digital campaigns but how he anchors policy in the real and relatable.
Poilievre's approach was critical in returning the ballot question to pocketbook issues in the campaign's last two weeks, slowing Prime Minister Mark Carney's momentum. Unfortunately for Poilievre, two weeks was not enough to win. We can debate endlessly about missed opportunities that could have resulted in Poilievre's Conservatives winning the most seats. Still, the fact of the matter is that Poilievre's narrative successfully bifurcated the ballot box question away from Trump. His "people first" messaging resulted in a massive increase in the Conservatives' vote share in key regions and outside their traditional supporter base, proving that stories have a critical role in shaping public perception and action.
This is a crucial lesson when we know that perception often precedes policy. This reality underscores a broader truth for those of us in public affairs that, in today's landscape, influence over policy is earned through access and empathy for the issue at hand.
Issue advocacy is not about pushing information but creating a connection. We can shift how policy and power are perceived when we tell stories that cut through complexity and resonate deeply with real people. Good issue advocacy elevates the stories behind the issues, it brings nuance into a space often dominated by dry whitepapers, awkward meetings, or soundbites that are culturally relevant for less than a few hours.
At the same time, paid digital media platforms give us the tools to scale that connection at speed, if we are willing to approach them with strategic intent. Advocacy at scale demands more than passion. Because we operate in a fragmented, oversaturated media environment, it is critical to understand that decision makers are constantly inundated with content at any given moment.
The real challenge is not reaching them—it is reaching them meaningfully. That is where a well-built, robust public affairs strategy matters.
Our approach to integrated influence
At NATIONAL, we have multidisciplinary teams across creative, earned media, data and insights, and paid media experts to design digital campaigns that meet stakeholders where they already are—on their social media feeds, in their day-to-day routines walking through Sparks St., at a PWHL or NHL hockey game, listening to a podcast, or even scrolling through their browser. These “surround-sound strategies”, which involve creating a consistent and pervasive narrative across various media platforms, often shape perception before the first formal meeting is even written on a decision maker's calendar.
Knowing that a strong public affairs strategy still relies on the fundamentals—building trust, collecting a consensus of support, stakeholder engagement, and policy literacy to help shape regulatory environments for meaningful policy change—our goal is not to replace traditional tactics but to use emerging tactics in paid digital media and advocacy to reinforce reach, relevance, and message repetition. Integrating digital and advocacy tools does not distract from that mission; they amplify it.
At NATIONAL, we can work with your existing advocacy or communications teams to build integrated digital campaigns that complement these efforts to mobilize grassroots support, frame narratives for lobbying, or amplify offline actions. Get in touch with NATIONAL's Public Affairs team if you want to learn more about:
- Specific public affairs strategies that organizations and their advocacy teams can implement to tell compelling stories effectively.
- How organizations can measure the emotional impact of their storytelling on decision makers, and
- How digital media can be better leveraged to enhance grassroots mobilization and engagement.
Public affairs is a constantly evolving discipline that is increasingly shaped by today’s digital dynamics. We are already seeing this shift in action—Google's AI-powered search results are reshaping how information is collected, while platforms like ChatGPT are used to research companies and executives for internal briefing notes. Even seemingly neutral AI-generated summaries on LinkedIn or automated news roundups can shape public perception before human insights or hard data even enter the conversation. The proliferation of AI-generated content now plays a pivotal role in shaping organizational reputations online.
As stakeholders and decision makers rely more heavily on digital channels for information, it is critical for organizations to proactively monitor and manage these narratives to stay ahead of perception risks and seize reputational opportunities.
